As I said in my intro (and thank you for the warm welcome it’s quite a group here!) I’ve been playing guitar for quite a while… off and on now for 20+ years but never very seriously…. Compulsive noodler you may say… and there have been pretty lengthy periods when the kids were little with no guitar at all.
I got back into it again in the last couple of years as an amazing release after a stressy day at work so I’m using JG’s course to structure a bit more learning as opposed to noodling…
I tend to practise at night when the family have gone to bed so I thought rather than waiting for the perfect lighting, the perfect mic set up and the perfect take I’d just do a quick iPhone recording with the Strat and amp (it’s a Positive Grid Amp so no pedals needed)… press record and see what happened. Far from perfect… but that’s me …
At some point you may hear me sing… but it ain’t pretty although it would be good to get some help as my singing is truly atrocious!!
I’m always happy to receive constructive criticism so fire away!!!
@SteveElder
I documented my singing and playing progress in “The Madman Diaries” on the forum after following CL’s Discover Your Voice course - just enter that in the search if you are curious, as I prefer not to self promo. Its not free but not cheap but worth the investment if you would like to boost your vocals. DYV is supposedly a 12 week course but like a few of Justin’s students who signed up for the course, you can take your time. For example I spread it out over a year to reap the benefits.
Thanks @chris_m and @TheMadman_tobyjenner I’ll take a look… I fear it’s just the innate timbre of my voice which may be beyond a lesson but it can’t hurt!!!
Hi Steve - Great job on getting your first video out, now keep going! Sounds really good, you ask for constructive feedback, so as you have clearly got the basics down, perhaps start to play with the dynamics a bit more. What you are doing sounds just fine, but it doesn’t change much through the song - even more obvious with no vocals. Perhaps some picking or some single strums, some softer sections etc to give it more movement and interest.
On the vocals - I hear you (well, I literally don’t, but you know what I mean!) I avoided singing for the longest time, but I do it all the time now. My voice isn’t great, but firstly I choose not to worry or care that much (getting older helped!) and not worrying relaxes you and actually improves things. Secondly I pick songs I can passably sing - typically with a small vocal range and change the key to help too. I’ll never be able to sing anything in any key, but some songs are much easier than others.
Have fun - hope to hear you playing (and singing ) more soon.
Hi Steve another Chris Liepe convert here. I hated his style but he gives an awful lot of stuff that helps with the singing, If your video is a snapshot of how you’re playing at the moment It’s good enough to be given some context with a vocal. Even if that is very basic…like mine and a lot of people I mix musically with.
…
) more soon.